Quarterbacks Gus Frerotte and Kerry Collins have 29 years of experience between them, and that's a big reason why they'll square off on Sunday.

During training camp, the Vikings and Tennessee Titans probably never could have imagined they'd both be relying on veteran backup quarterbacks so early in the season.

Tarvaris Jackson and Vince Young were billed as quarterbacks who had made progress in the offseason and were poised for success.

Instead, both have been benched, and both teams have turned to veterans with 29 years of experience between them: Minnesota's Gus Frerotte and Tennessee's Kerry Collins. There's nothing like an experienced quarterback to ease the worries of a head coach, which is a big reason why veteran quarterbacks stick around the NFL so long.

"It's important to have a veteran quarterback in a role behind a young quarterback you're developing through those growing pains in the event that there's a problem," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said Wednesday.

The falls of Young and Jackson highlight the lack of success by the quarterbacks drafted in 2006. Jackson was the fifth quarterback selected in the top 64 picks, including Young (No. 3 overall), Matt Leinart (No. 10, Cardinals), Jay Cutler (No. 11, Broncos) and Kellen Clemens (No. 49, Jets). Of those, only Cutler stands out to date.

With Young's mental state in question recently and a knee injury to boot, he's not in the starting lineup anymore, and the job belongs to Collins as long as he plays well, Fisher said. Young will be the team's starting quarterback again, Fisher said, but the coach doesn't know when.

As for the Vikings, Jackson lost his starting job after his inconsistent performance contributed mightily to an 0-2 start.

Advertisement

The Vikings couldn't take the risk of going 0-3, which almost certainly would have doomed their chances of making the playoffs, so they switched to Frerotte.

Now Collins, 35, and Frerotte, 37, will start in a pivotal game for both teams Sunday at Nashville.

The Titans want to prove that their 3-0 start isn't a fluke; they've beaten Jacksonville, Cincinnati and Houston. And the Vikings need to build on their momentum behind Frerotte, who showed in his first start last week that he's clearly more in command of the passing game than Jackson.

Fisher said he was impressed with the way Frerotte managed the game, made key passes and was able to maneuver in the pocket during the Vikings' 20-10 victory over Carolina on Sunday.

"He has a good feel for what they're doing," Fisher said. "He's an experienced quarterback. Where they are right now, developing a young quarterback, it might be the best thing for Gus to go and let (Jackson) see how he does things."

Collins and Frerotte have the experience necessary to lead their teams when situations turn dire. Frerotte has started 85 games in his career, Collins 157.

Though Collins will never be elected to the hall of fame, he has passed for more yards (35,099) than Phil Simms, Troy Aikman or Steve Young.

Fisher said the experience Collins and Frerotte share makes them similar. They know how to read defenses and manage games. They can get to the line of scrimmage, make quick decisions and minimize mistakes.

Collins will make his third start of the season after taking over for Young, who was the subject of a police search. In a police report, Fisher told police Young's therapist said the player "mentioned suicide several times."

But Fisher said he isn't worried that Young's career could be in jeopardy, calling the incident a "speed bump."

"It's an opportunity for him to take a step back, take a deep breath and watch Kerry," Fisher said. "He will definitely be under center for us again. We drafted him to do that."

Frerotte's jump to the starting role had nothing to do with off-field issues. Jackson simply wasn't managing the offense well enough.

Frerotte admitted that after he was released last season by St. Louis, he wondered whether he should retire. But he decided to meet with some teams that showed interest, including the Vikings. And here he is, still playing football, suddenly a starter.

"It's all in who's going to give you a shot and who believes in you," Frerotte said. "Coach (Brad) Childress obviously believed in me. I think as a quarterback, you always need confidence."

The message Frerotte heard was that he would be asked to help Jackson grow and learn but that he should be ready to play if needed. Childress wanted a veteran quarterback he could depend upon.

"Still, you're not just hiring that guy to be a teacher," Childress said. "If (No. 1) goes down then (No. 2) has to be ready to go in there and give a good account of himself. That's what you want."